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Hector furrowed his brow as Balen did his best to translate the Draconic words -- the Dunmer's explanation wasn't exactly reassuring. Hector doubted a millenia-old undead draugr overlord, Dragon Priest or not, would be susceptible to hubris, so the claim of being equal or superior to them worried the ex-Legionnaire.

While Hraf spoke some uplifting words to Balen, Baladas Venym strengthened Merci's magelight. The Telvanni had yelled something into the gloom, laughing, which Hector presumed to be some kind of Draconic taunt. [i]Why do all these Dunmer speak Draconic?[/i] Hector asked himself bemusedly. [i]Scholars...[/i] Either way, they needed to find a way out of here. Sheathing his sword (but keeping his shield on his arm, just in case), Hector approached the walls of the circular chamber they were stuck in. He investigated some of the sarcophagi littered around on the floor suspiciously, but nothing jumped out at him. Looking at a sarcophagus standing upright in one of the chamber's alcoves, however, Hector noticed something -- it was tilted to the left, leaning against the wall of the alcove. In the small slit of space visible behind the sarcophagus, Hector saw pitch black darkness. 

Hector motioned for Hraf and Balen to help him. Together, the three of them pulled the sarcophagus out of its alcove, which landed on the chamber floor with a thunderous crash, breaking into dozens of pieces on impact. Hector wiped his gauntlets' palms clean and stared into the dark tunnel. "Let's check the rest," Hector said. "Ungimros and Baladas, start on the other side of the chamber. Ladies... just, uh, catch your breath, okay?" Hector didn't feel comfortable ordering the women around to do heavy physical work, though he suspected the Altmer might take offense at [i]not[/i] being called upon.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, the party removed all the sarcophagi from the alcoves. It quickly became apparent how the draugr had left the chamber as they found another dark, hidden tunnel. "Two exits," Hector murmured to himself. 

Clearing his throat, Hector spoke up. "Well, we could split up and explore both of the tunnels simultaneously. It would save time, but considering the threat just made to us, I don't think that's a good idea. We should stick together." Having said that, the Imperial looked at one tunnel, then at the other. Neither had any distinctive features to set it apart from the other. Both were rectangular, about seven feet high and five feet wide. Hector sighed, pulled out a septim and flipped the coin. 

"Heads," Hector said, looking towards the tunnel exit to his left. 

Cautiously, the party moved into the tunnel, weapons drawn and spells prepared. Merci's magelight followed them inside, illuminating the walls. Unlike those they had seen before, these walls were plain and undecorated, roughly hewn out of the stone earth. Hector felt trapped with the ceiling so close above him, and there was only space for the party to move in double file. 

Fortunately, their trip through the small tunnel was uneventful and they reached a wide, open room after a few minutes. The ceiling was equally low here, an eternal reminder of the weight of the earth above them, but at least there was space to move freely now. This room was a mess; cabinets filled with old, illegible books and scrolls lined the walls and several tables were scattered around the place. On these tables, Hector saw the following items: a [b]pile of amethysts[/b], a [b]magical scroll of some kind[/b], several [b]gold nuggets[/b] and a [b]dagger that gleamed with enchantment[/b]. 

[i]There we go,[/i] Hector thought to himself, relieved. [i]Something to make this trip worth it.[/i] Without speaking, Hector grabbed several of the amethysts and stored them in his leather satchel. The magical scroll was wasted on him and Hector disliked fighting with a dagger. The unspoken rule was to divide the spoils equally, and Hector wasn't about to be pedantic enough to remind the rest of the party of that fact. They were all adults. 

[i][GM note: loot is marked in bold.][/i]